


Riley's Revelation

by ThePrincessOfPirates



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Alcohol, Chekov/Sulu takes a backseat in this, M/M, this is not a Chekov/Sulu fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:13:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2705210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrincessOfPirates/pseuds/ThePrincessOfPirates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riley had always prided himself in being a gold star heterosexual, never even experimented in college.  But there's a lot one doesn't know about one's self thanks to alcohol.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Riley's Revelation

 

Kevin stretched out in his bed, keeping his eyes closed to ward of the impending headache. What exactly was that headache from? Riley rolled onto his side, shoving his face into his pillow attempting to think of what exactly he'd done yesterday.

 

_“No I swear, I've never experimented!” Kevin bragged in between bites of salad. The lieutenant was fairly proud of his Gold Star Heterosexual status that was so uncommon during the era and flaunted it whenever possible._

 

_“If you say so!” the red shirt across from him mocked, swirling his fork through his plate of pasta._

 

_“Kevin! How's it going, buddy? Haven't seen you much since you got promoted to navigator.” Claude greeted, sitting down next to Riley with a large plate of fruit._

 

_“Yeah, I've been spending all my time up on the bridge.” Kevin replied, cracking a wide smile. He and Claude had been close friends in the academy and he had missed speaking with the raven haired engineer._

 

_“What's it like being one of the top dogs?” Claude asked, looping his arm over Kevin's shoulder._

 

_“_ _Not much different from working the engines to be honest, the one big thing I can notate is that instead of getting yelled at by Scotty you get yelled at by the captain and Mr. Spock instead.” Riley grumbled. He knew he had it good, navigator was a pretty cushy job with his prior training but it was still rough some times._

 

_“Ya know what,” Claude began, turning in his chair to face Kevin. “Us red shirts are having a celebration so to speak tonight. Sort of a 'Congrats on keeping alive we're sorry your job sucks!' kind of thing, we do it all the time. Now generally these parties are engineering and security only, not even Scotty is allowed to attend due to his rank, but we can bring guests. How about joining in to take your mind off things?”_

 

_“I'm on beta shift tomorrow so that'll work perfectly!” Riley cheered. He'd heard about the red shirt parties, heard they were wild to help balance out the danger of everyday life. Though gold shirts might be the most sought after position on the ship, no one lived nearly as much as a red shirt did and that was indisputable._

 

Kevin sighed contentedly, and adjusted himself in bed, nuzzling even deeper into the sheets. The party sure as Hell had been crazy, crazier than any holiday party the ships halls ever saw under the captains command. He chuckled as he thought back to the nights events.

 

_Riley marveled at the bright strobe lights in the large conference room. The music coming through the speakers seemed to thrum in his lungs, vibrating every atom in his being._ _The bar was fully stocked and people were already starting to get drinks. Kevin snickered at the irony of the red solo cup cliche that the red shirts stuck with and grabbed himself a guineas._

 

_“You made it!” Claude shouted, running up to him._ _The bright, colorful lights of the room illuminated his pale skin making it seem blue, and then orange, and then green, and then a hundred more colors all at once._

 

_“You think I'd skip out on an invitation to a red shirt party?” Kevin joked. “Now I know I didn't do a lot of partying in my academy days but I'm no fool.”_

 

_“Come one, we should get to the dance floor if we wanna make the best of this night.” Claude said, grabbing the front of Riley's tunic and pulling him away from the bar._

 

_Riley danced with a slurry of attractive people throughout the night. Everything past the halfway marker of the night, sometime around 2300 hours, was a total blur, one too many_ _Guinnes_ _ses_ _fuzzing out his memory of his dance partner rotation._

 

Riley tried to roll over to the other side of his bed. I say tried because he did not necessarily succeed. His shoulder hit another languid body and Riley froze absolutely still. His brown eyes shot open in shock. In front of him was the pale, sleeping face of Claude. Riley's breathing sped up but he still didn't move an inch. The raven haired engineer's eyes fluttered open and he smiled at the navigator. Claude grabbed Riley by the shoulders and pulled him up onto his lap, letting Kevin straddle his hips.

 

“Good morning.” Claude said quietly, pulling Riley down for a kiss.

 

Kevin's first reaction was to hold absolutely still, now he remembered _everything_ from the previous night. He recalled how his dance partners became less and less female as he had more drinks, how that red shirt from the mess hall had scoffed at him as he tangoed with an old dorm mate. But most of all, he remembered how Claude had walked him back to his quarters, and how he'd hung on the relief engineer the entire walk back, and how he'd pinned his friend to the door of quarters for what felt like the 100th kiss they'd shared that night.

 

He'd lost his gold star, and he'd enjoyed every second of it.

 

Riley melted into the kiss shifting his weight so he could more comfortably get his hands all over Claude's chest.

 

“Guess I'm not as straight as I thought I was, huh.” Kevin chuckled and he pulled back from the kiss to bite Claude's neck.

 

“Trust me when I say you never were,” the engineer joked, gasping at the sharp sensation. “I remember back in our academy days, the moment you started pounding Guinness and Jameson at a party that whole 'I'm totally heterosexual' thing went right out the window. I'm surprised you stayed with only ladies this long.”

 

“The things you forget about yourself thanks to alcohol...” Riley chuckled and soothed the small bruise he'd created with his teeth.

 

“So what do you say we have a little encore to last night?” Claude asked, resting a hand on the small of Kyle's back.

 

“Why not, I've got some extra time.” Riley responded.

 

Riley sat in the mess hall silently lost in thought. He hadn't touched his breakfast or even looked up from the table.

 

“You alright Mr. Riley?” Chekov asked, Kevin's expression was so intense that Pavel feared the navigator was cooking up a murder plan. “You look like a bulldog that just swallowed a bee.”

 

“I was just thinking...” Riley replied, pulling his elbows off the table and trying his best to look less tense.

 

“About what?” Chekov asked, looking around the room to see if there was anywhere for him to sit.

 

“I slept with Clau- Relief Engineer Claude Jones last night.” Riley said without thinking, instantly regretting the words that he'd let slip between his lips. He tried to choke down his embarrassment with a spoonful of cereal.

 

“Well I'm still sore from Sulu's midnight booty call so I'm right there with you.” Chekov said shrugging and seating himself next to the fellow navigator upon the recognition that there was no where better for him to sit.

 

Riley choked, turning bright red.

 

“I exchanged a truth for a truth Mr. Riley,” Chekov stated, starting in on his oatmeal. “And I feel no shame.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this little oneshot about my favorite background character and my headcanons for him!


End file.
